What do John Coltrane's Lover, Grant Green's Gooden's Corner, Joe Henderson's The Kicker, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard, Bennie Green's Back on the Scene and Wes Montgomery's Movin' Along have in common? Louis Hayes is playing drums. [Photo above of Louis Hayes by Anna Yatskevich]
Today, Louis is one of the last men drumming from jazz's galloping hard-bop era. Best of all, the 85-year-old artist hasn't lost an ounce of energy or style. As evidenced by his latest album, Exactly Right! (Savant), Louis not only is at the top of his game but also his taste in songs remains terrific.
Recorded in December and produced by Maxine Gordon, Dexter Gordon's widow, Exactly Right! features Louis on drums, Abraham Burton on tenor saxophone, Steve Nelson on vibraphone, David Hazeltine on piano and Dezron Douglas on bass. [Photo above of Abraham Burton]
The tracks are Louis's Exactly Right!, Duke Pearson's Is That So?, Cedar Walton's Hand in Glove, Sergio Mendes's So Many Stars, David Hazeltine's Carmine's Bridge, Wayne Shorter's Nefertiti, Horace Silver's Mellow D, Fred Lacey's Theme for Ernie, Scarborough Fair (traditional) and Cedar Walton's Ugetsu. [Photo above of Steve Nelson]
What's fascinating are the two triangular conversations going on simultaneously. The dominant one consists of Louis, Burton (sax) and Nelson (vibes) playing off each other. The second one is Louis, Hazeltine (piano) and Douglas (bass). Louis is the driving force energizing both the front line and, with different drum figures, the rhythm section. In effect, he's playing cards at two different tables at once. Up front, Burton brings the heat while Nelson lays down the cool, but Louis's drums set the mood and keep the hard bop edgy. [Photo above of David Hazeltine, courtesy of David Hazeltine]
Best of all are Louis's cymbals. They splash here and there with purposeful randomness and erupt with just the right amount of drama, accenting without overshadowing. On drum solos, Louis plays with a taut economy and decades of hard bop experience. He also shows his funk on Scarborough Fair, which is given the soul-jazz treatment. Louis Hayes is a treasure. [Photo above of Dezron Douglas]
To read my three-part JazzWax interview with Louis Hayes, start here. (Subsequent parts can be accessed via the link above the red date at each post.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Louis Hayes's Exactly Right! (Savant) here. It's also available at YouTube here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Is That So?...
And here's Ugetsu...
